Brookpark Union Meeting Cleveland Site Today

[Grey Goose]

Local 1250 (Cleveland Site) held it's meeting today. I must say there was an excellent turnout as the storm clouds are indeed gathering and the ugly rumors flying.

Bottom line is NO ONE KNOWS ANYTHING YET, but the signs are disconcerting to say the least.

The Plant 1 idling of 12 to 18 months ( pick it both numbers were used ) was discussed with the Local taking it quite seriously.

Seriously enough to begin fighting for GEN inclusion, along with transfer rights for affected employees. There was no talk whatsoever that the shutdown was because Plant 1 would build a new engine...only that Lima was producing all current needs now and for the forseable future according to Ford.

As ominous as the news on Plant 1 was, the news on The Casting Plant was worse. The local union , bottom line is convinced that Ford wants out of the casting business. Monies already offered by the State were not enough because essentially Ford wants out of casting period. It is apparently not an issue of being competitive, as the local has proven to the company that it can produce their needed parts I believe $24 to some $80 cheaper per part than Tupy Brazil, it's simply that Ford doesn't consider casting a core business and wants out period.

The local President said flat out that International VP Bob King "had drawn a line in the sand on The Foundry's closing"

There was serious talk of a strike on both a local and the national level as well with the tone of the Executive Board going from consiliatory in the recent past to a much more confrontational one today.

I get the opinion, and this is only my opinion that the local expects the worst, that the coming news will be devastatingly bad, and that we will have to fight incredibly hard for anything that we keep.

We were urged to put our notorious politics aside and come together for the fight ahead that is surely coming.

Usually this is nothing more than political talk in and of itself. This time....it's true.

I am NOT a union officer and hold no union appointed job though I have run unsuccessfully for office twice in the past. So I have no axe to grind here, no position to jockey for other than my job on the assembly line. But I would urge ALL Local 1250 Cleveland members who read this to spread the word....come together now as never before since the founding of the union.

The Cleveland Site is in VERY SERIOUS TROUBLE IT'S QUITE CLEAR. Please I urge as many of you as possible to ATTEND YOUR NEXT UNION MEETING, show the company and its management goons our solidarity. Let them know that WE STAND TOGETHER ALONG WITH THE INTERNATIONAL to stand up to this kind of bad faith bargaining and mismanagement that Ford now wants us all to pay for with our jobs.

Simply put, IT'S THE ONLY WAY WE ARE GOING TO POSSIBLY SAVE OUR JOBS. And Brothers and Sisters make no mistake about it.....Ford is sending a guy in a $2000 suit to town and he wants your job. Don't let him take it without a fight. Don't let him steal it from you while we bicker over assnine small issues amongst ourselves.

The prize is your job . KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. That guy in the expensive suit is I assure you.

 

This has been The Grey Goose and I approved this message

Edited April 22, 2007 by Grey Goose

[darkknight1955]

No matter how hard we work to keep our jobs, what's to keep management from making bad decisions. Some of the decisions they make doesn't make sense at all. Common sense is something I don't see a lot of when it comes to some of the decisions that are made by the uppers at our site.

[Grey Goose]

No matter how hard we work to keep our jobs, what's to keep management from making bad decisions. Some of the decisions they make doesn't make sense at all. Common sense is something I don't see a lot of when it comes to some of the decisions that are made by the uppers at our site.

I could not agree more. All the more reason to stand up and make them pay for it with THEIR JOB and NOT YOURS!

[OneShiftCharlie]

The local President said flat out that International VP Bob King "had drawn a line in the sand on The Foundry's closing"

This has been The Grey Goose and I approved this message

 

 

lol, that fuck face also drew "a line in the sand" with MTP's COA. Looks like he likes to play in the sand.

[gary112]

Local 1250 (Cleveland Site) held it's meeting today. I must say there was an excellent turnout as the storm clouds are indeed gathering and the ugly rumors flying.

Bottom line is NO ONE KNOWS ANYTHING YET, but the signs are disconcerting to say the least.

The Plant 1 idling of 12 to 18 months ( pick it both numbers were used ) was discussed with the Local taking it quite seriously.

Seriously enough to begin fighting for GEN inclusion, along with transfer rights for affected employees. There was no talk whatsoever that the shutdown was because Plant 1 would build a new engine...only that Lima was producing all current needs now and for the forseable future according to Ford.

As ominous as the news on Plant 1 was, the news on The Casting Plant was worse. The local union , bottom line is convinced that Ford wants out of the casting business. Monies already offered by the State were not enough because essentially Ford wants out of casting period. It is apparently not an issue of being competitive, as the local has proven to the company that it can produce their needed parts I believe $24 to some $80 cheaper per part than Tupy Brazil, it's simply that Ford doesn't consider casting a core business and wants out period.

The local President said flat out that International VP Bob King "had drawn a line in the sand on The Foundry's closing"

There was serious talk of a strike on both a local and the national level as well with the tone of the Executive Board going from concialtory in the recent past to a much more confrontational one today.

I get the opinion, and this is only my opinion that the local expects the worst, that the coming news will be devastatingly bad, and that we will have to fight incredibly hard for anything that we keep.

We were urged to put our notorious politics aside and come together for the fight ahead that is surely coming.

Usually this is nothing more than political talk in and of itself. This time....it's true.

I am NOT a union officer and hold no union appointed job though I have run unsuccessfully for office twice in the past. So I have no axe to grind here, no position to jockey for other than my job on the assembly line. But I would urge ALL Local 1250 Cleveland members who read this to spread the word....come together now as never before since the founding of the union.

The Cleveland Site is in VERY SERIOUS TROUBLE IT'S QUITE CLEAR. Please I urge as many of you as possible to ATTEND YOUR NEXT UNION MEETING, show the company and its management goons our solidarity. Let them know that WE STAND TOGETHER ALONG WITH THE INTERNATIONAL to stand up to this kind of bad faith bargaining and mismanagement that Ford now wants us all to pay for with our jobs.

Simply put, IT'S THE ONLY WAY WE ARE GOING TO POSSIBLY SAVE OUR JOBS. And Brothers and Sisters make no mistake about it.....Ford is sending a guy in a $2000 suit to town and he wants your job. Don't let him take it without a fight. Don't let him steal it from you while we bicker over assnine small issues amongst ourselves.

The prize is your job . KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. That guy in the expensive suit is I assure you.

 

This has been The Grey Goose and I approved this message

 

They dont wanna invest 31 mil. in CCP but Mullaly got over 28 mil. for three months work in 06. What a joke!

[Grey Goose]

lol, that fuck face also drew "a line in the sand" with MTP's COA. Looks like he likes to play in the sand.

Yeah well charlie....everyone likes to play in the sand until they get it kicked in their face.

Bottom line....we can all piss and moan about Mulally's millions, Mark Fields weekly getaways to Florida, and the general inbred status of ANYONE REMOTELY CONNECTED TO FORD MANAGEMENT or we can fight along with our union for our jobs.

We can all piss and moan about the union, local and International all we want. Ford would just LOVE for us to spend the time we have left that way trust me on that one .

Whether you love them or hate them, they are all we have and OUR ONLY CHANCE OF SAVING OUR JOBS !

Can we win? Who knows. Will we win? Don't know. But I do know if we don't do anything The Cleveland Site is dead in the water along with my mortgage.

Now I've always said this....if Ford is going to fuck me ( and boy are they getting ready to Charlie ) then I assure you it is going to be with my mouth open and my fists flailing.

just this hillbillies opinion

[fuaw]

Right on , we have big problems at the plants, POOR management issue, but they want to blame Rhe Union members the International Union is selling us out they got a BIG raise Prsident is making 158,530.00 includes all " Special Expense" ask your self what are you making is that where our given up pay raise went to ? we took in around 303.8 million where is our share, if we strike we get 200 a week while they live on the fat hog, time to go up to World head Quarters and picket enough is enough, I agree they should be paid more then us but how can a guy who mostly assured the pay honestly represent us, call him up and ask him "What he done for Us lately" I think it would be sell us out, I am proud to Union but lets get a grip on all this bs going on before The Unions are all gone. our member has fallen in Cleve. big time What is poor Timme and Gary "I See a EMPTY LOT out my offfffice SPENCLESS, Paulie,Retired Charles"where is my JEWEL Payment" Beckie, to name a few getting paid take a look at the books....... HEY GUYS CAN YOU TELL US WHEN THE NEXT LAYOFFF IS OR IS THIS A SECRET TO? When are we setting a strike up? the company has violated teh aggrement, and that is a violation called Unfair labor pratice, and is a strikable issue, ohhhhhh yeah the International probably wont approve it.........

 

WARNING WAKE UP CLEVELAND WE ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE..... Hang in There :shades:

[manufmanager]

Right on , we have big problems at the plants, POOR management issue, but they want to blame Rhe Union members the International Union is selling us out they got a BIG raise Prsident is making 158,530.00 includes all " Special Expense" ask your self what are you making is that where our given up pay raise went to ? we took in around 303.8 million where is our share, if we strike we get 200 a week while they live on the fat hog, time to go up to World head Quarters and picket enough is enough, I agree they should be paid more then us but how can a guy who mostly assured the pay honestly represent us, call him up and ask him "What he done for Us lately" I think it would be sell us out, I am proud to Union but lets get a grip on all this bs going on before The Unions are all gone. our member has fallen in Cleve. big time What is poor Timme and Gary "I See a EMPTY LOT out my offfffice SPENCLESS, Paulie,Retired Charles"where is my JEWEL Payment" Beckie, to name a few getting paid take a look at the books....... HEY GUYS CAN YOU TELL US WHEN THE NEXT LAYOFFF IS OR IS THIS A SECRET TO? When are we setting a strike up? the company has violated teh aggrement, and that is a violation called Unfair labor pratice, and is a strikable issue, ohhhhhh yeah the International probably wont approve it.........

 

WARNING WAKE UP CLEVELAND WE ARE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE..... Hang in There :shades:

 

This is a real touching story but everyone is so quick to jump behind the union and moan and groan about management. I think I said in another post "Why would talented management stay at Ford??" As a former manager I had a good relationship with the union and it's membership. It was all about trust and communication. This was a rare relationship but most talented managers in Ford eventually become fed up in dealing with their upper management, the union and the small percent of slack asses in the membership. That is why I left and don't regret the decision. There are plenty of other companies outside of automotive that pay well and while we have unions to deal with, they aren't anything like the combative UAW.

[Grey Goose]

This is a real touching story but everyone is so quick to jump behind the union and moan and groan about management. I think I said in another post "Why would talented management stay at Ford??" As a former manager I had a good relationship with the union and it's membership. It was all about trust and communication. This was a rare relationship but most talented managers in Ford eventually become fed up in dealing with their upper management, the union and the small percent of slack asses in the membership. That is why I left and don't regret the decision. There are plenty of other companies outside of automotive that pay well and while we have unions to deal with, they aren't anything like the combative UAW.

Look I'm not going to argue with you on this point. during my years at Ford and my dealings with many salaried personel I quite agree with you sir. There is an unbelievable amount of talent in management. I have seen it myself firsthand both in Plant 2 and The Casting Plant. These people want to perform, they want to excel, they want to contribute and bring their talents to bear for the good of the Company. I usually find these talented people at the supervisor level. But there are also an unbelieveable amount of dead weight assholes as well.

Managers who feel compelled to do something anything to justify their salaries whether it makes sense or not.

I'll give you an example....our new site manager at Cleveland got a wonderful idea a few weeks back. Let's invalidate all parking passes summarily, and spend countless resources and time making people prove (AGAIN) that they need a parking pass for medical reasons. I believe her ( the new site manager's ) comment was..."If they can work here they can walk here"

Now never mind the general human insensitivity and ignorance exhibited by such a statement, but she had no idea of the ramifications of her rather childish edict. What it meant was that on Monday, untold scores of people would report to work...and have no way to enter the plant since their gate photo ID's were inactive. So instead of being on the assembly line producing engines and REVENUE for Ford, they would be standing in the parking lot with no access twiddling their thumbs while the assembly lines COULD NOT RUN DUE TO A SHORTAGE OF PEOPLE.

Now please tell me ....what value did this add to the end product? What revenue did this generate for Ford? NONE.

But gosh...she was here and she was in charge and by golly she had made an executive decision and the consequences be damned. Everybody jump because she said so. It took The Union to point out to her that security would need time to accomplish this...and her unilateral decision was counterproductive putting it mildly.

Example number two. After the recent death of my mother...Labor relations danced me around on a string making me prove she did in fact die. Her funeral was out of town and fell on the Easter Holiday week and I wanted to get the paperwork in order before I left town to be assured that I would be properly paid. But since her funeral was out of town I could not produce the needed funeral home documents before I left and was in fact AWOLed for the entire time thus forcing me to cut my visit to my mothers short in order to beat the holiday deadline and supply these wonderful managers you love so much with the paperwork they wanted to assure proper coding and thus a correct paycheck as well as to avoid a 5 day quit letter being sent to me.

That's bad enough, but here is the AMAZING part. I returned...I supplied the needed documentation that yes my mother had indeed died, and get this...THE LABOR REP WAS UNABLE TO TO REMOVE ALL BUT 2 COUNT THEM 2 AWOL'S. They were physically prevented from correcting more than 2 days due to the edict of you guessed it ...our new site manager.

So yes ....its like this..Mr Ford hourly worker...you say your mother died....PROVE IT. Ok yes you have proven it to our satisfaction, but corporate constipation directed from our new site manager prevents us from making you whole again.

Wow thats some talented manager we have here. That sure adds value to the end product doesn't it? Do you think the customer on the dealer lot cares a shit about this?

I could go on and on....Plant 2 shuts down for 1 week to adjust inventories with all hourly employees receiving GEN, and then returns the next week to overtime behind schedule in danger of shutting down Kansas City Assembly due to a lack of engines.

We on the assembly line are forced to work overtime and on that hour of overtime we sit and stare at an empty assembly line producing NOTHING but red ink. Some talented management we have around here for sure.

The fact is there are MANY ways we in Plant 2 could reduce costs...we want to help, but we are excluded. I have been a coordinator in my area for 5 years and have NEVER been asked for ideas or anything of the sort on how we could reduce costs a dollar at a time from material costs to production efficencies all the while foolish and boorish policies are forced down our collective throats simply to justify the grossly inflated salaries of management.

I understand the bonuses to salaried personel...they have degrees and with those degrees come options. Options that many of us in hourly do not have. So bonuses are in fact needed to keep the talent that is here in place and to prevent them from going elsewhere.

But c'mon dude...there are so many examples of management wasting Fords dollars...throwing money out the window on needless complexities on the assembly line that ADD NOT ONE RED CENT OF VALUE TO THE END PRODUCT and managements answer is always the same. Wow...we're in the red....we're bleeding dollars....better eliminate as MANY HOULRY JOBS AS POSSIBLE TO PAY FOR IT AND COVER OUR ASS!

So please spare me your concern for all those talented managers that we in the union are weighing down.

THEY MAKE NOTHING. THEY PRODUCE NOTHING. THEY ADD NOT ONE DOLLAR OF VALUE TO THE END PRODUCT.

What most ...not all ...most do is get in the way of progress and efficiences while they collect grossly inflated salaries and bleed Ford of its limited resources and generally make life difficult for the people who ACTUALLY PRODUCE SOMETHING OF VALUE!

As for your comment of the unions you now deal with....IF they are not as combative as the UAW, then they are not doing their job and are simply stealing the members dues. Anytime a manager waxes poetic about the virtues of the union he is dealing with as a dues paying member one had better duck because you see my friend I don't particularly want my union to be friends with management. I needed a friend I bought a fucking German Shepard.

I want my union ( thankfully its the UAW ) to stand between me and some asshole in management who didn't get laid last might and tell him or her to go fuck himself and LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE AND LET ME DO MY JOB!

Capice?

just this hillbillies opinion....

Edited April 23, 2007 by Grey Goose

[Grey Goose]

They dont wanna invest 31 mil. in CCP but Mullaly got over 28 mil. for three months work in 06. What a joke!

Oh by the way....gary gary gary..... do ya believe me now about the 18 month idling rumor on Plant 1 and Lima getting all the D35's ?

Sorry friend...I couldn't resist.

 

This has been Grey Goose.....Coordinator Extraordinaire :happy feet:

[uRfk9AcDfo9Wui]

Example number two. After the recent death of my mother...Labor relations danced me around on a string making me prove she did in fact die. Her funeral was out of town and fell on the Easter Holiday week and I wanted to get the paperwork in order before I left town to be assured that I would be properly paid. But since her funeral was out of town I could not produce the needed funeral home documents before I left and was in fact AWOLed for the entire time thus forcing me to cut my visit to my mothers short in order to beat the holiday deadline and supply these wonderful managers you love so much with the paperwork they wanted to assure proper coding and thus a correct paycheck as well as to avoid a 5 day quit letter being sent to me.

That's bad enough, but here is the AMAZING part. I returned...I supplied the needed documentation that yes my mother had indeed died, and get this...THE LABOR REP WAS UNABLE TO TO REMOVE ALL BUT 2 COUNT THEM 2 AWOL'S. They were physically prevented from correcting more than 2 days due to the edict of you guessed it ...our new site manager.

So yes ....its like this..Mr Ford hourly worker...you say your mother died....PROVE IT. Ok yes you have proven it to our satisfaction, but corporate constipation directed from our new site manager prevents us from making you whole again.

Wow thats some talented manager we have here. That sure adds value to the end product doesn't it? Do you think the customer on the dealer lot cares a shit about this?

 

Hold on a minute Goose. While I agree with you on a lot of the stuff you have posted, this right here has nothing to do with management. This is totally the UNIONS FAULT! I know because I just went thru it not to long ago and had a LONG discussion about it with my HR rep. Because of the abuse of the older less stringent system and the union protecting the abusers, management had no choice but to tighten the rules up so it was harder for the abusers to abuse the system. If the company had been able to discipline their ass or fire them, we probably wouldn’t have to bring a copy of the Death Certificate and a DNA sample (jk), but the bad apples of the bunch spoiled it for the honest people!! Just another example of the union standing up for all the trash while the hard working honest people get the shaft and have to suffer by the tighter rules.

[Grey Goose]

Hold on a minute Goose. While I agree with you on a lot of the stuff you have posted, this right here has nothing to do with management. This is totally the UNIONS FAULT! I know because I just went thru it not to long ago and had a LONG discussion about it with my HR rep. Because of the abuse of the older less stringent system and the union protecting the abusers, management had no choice but to tighten the rules up so it was harder for the abusers to abuse the system. If the company had been able to discipline their ass or fire them, we probably wouldn’t have to bring a copy of the Death Certificate and a DNA sample (jk), but the bad apples of the bunch spoiled it for the honest people!! Just another example of the union standing up for all the trash while the hard working honest people get the shaft and have to suffer by the tighter rules.

Hold on a second uR. You mean labor relations accepted your mothers DNA? Hell I had to cut my Mom's little finger off and give it to them in a formaldehyde filled pickling jar.

Allow me though to poke a few holes in your argument though if I may.

Now I know if I were the HR rep standing in front of you INSULTING you with the fact that I might be even fucked up enough to DOUBT that your mother died....I would probably want to BLAME it on someone else as well, and who more convenient than the union.

Also, if someone is vile and fucked up enough to actually LIE about the death of their own mother for a few days pay, then SURELY they will find themselves in serious trouble in countless other ways long before this bereavement situation comes about.

Wouldn't a more humane and productive, indeed a more American way to handle the situation would be to yes of course require subtantiation from whatever documents Ford might wish AFTER the fact? To pay you a bereavement benefit, allow you to greive and do what you must and should and when you RETURN you would of course be expected to provide proof? Why should you be AWOLed for a full FIVE DAYS with a five day quit letter in the mail headed your way when all you did was have the unmitigated gall to have your mother die when you were expected at work? Why should you be considered guilty and then have to prove your innocence? Whats American about that?

As for the old "Union protects all the bad apples" lament ...I hear that all the time and it ALWAYS strikes me that people always think someone ELSE is the bad apple and not them.

What if your supervisor didn't get laid last night and is hung over....and he THINKS YOU'RE the bad apple?

Now I understand that there are more than a few assholes in hourly who play the system....but the Company allows them to do so period.

And remember...the Union is OBLIGATED to protect even the assholes as long as they are members in good standing. It can sometime be maddening I agree....but if the Company puts up with it then so be it.